Preservation/degradation of video/audio aspects of a data stream

ABSTRACT

In one aspect, a method related to data management. In addition, other method, system, and program product aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and/or text forming a part of the present application.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is related to and claims the benefit of theearliest available effective filing date(s) from the following listedapplication(s) (the “Related Applications”) (e.g., claims earliestavailable priority dates for other than provisional patent applicationsor claims benefits under 35 USC §119(e) for provisional patentapplications, for any and all parent, grandparent, great-grandparent,etc. applications of the Related Application(s)).

RELATED APPLICATIONS

For purposes of the USPTO extra-statutory requirements, the presentapplication constitutes a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/263,587, entitled Saved Image Management, namingRoyce A. Levien, Robert W. Lord, and Mark A. Malamud, as inventors,filed Oct. 31, 2005, which is currently co-pending, or is an applicationof which a currently co-pending application is entitled to the benefitof the filing date.

For purposes of the USPTO extra-statutory requirements, the presentapplication constitutes a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/264,701, entitled Conditional Alteration of aSaved Image, naming Royce A. Levien, Robert W. Lord, and Mark A.Malamud, as inventors, filed Nov. 1, 2005, which is currentlyco-pending, or is an application of which a currently co-pendingapplication is entitled to the benefit of the filing date.

For purposes of the USPTO extra-statutory requirements, the presentapplication constitutes a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/364,496, entitled Imagery Processing, namingEdward K. Y. Jung, Royce A. Levien, Robert W. Lord, Mark A. Malamud, andJohn D. Rinaldo, Jr., as inventors, filed Feb. 28, 2006, which iscurrently co-pending, or is an application of which a currentlyco-pending application is entitled to the benefit of the filing date.

For purposes of the USPTO extra-statutory requirements, the presentapplication constitutes a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/376,627, entitled Data Management of a DataStream, naming Edward K. Y. Jung, Royce A. Levien, Robert W. Lord, MarkA. Malamud, and John D. Rinaldo, Jr., as inventors, filed Mar. 15, 2006,which is currently co-pending, or is an application of which a currentlyco-pending application is entitled to the benefit of the filing date.

For purposes of the USPTO extra-statutory requirements, the presentapplication constitutes a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/396,279, entitled Data Management of an AudioData Stream, naming Edward K. Y. Jung, Royce A. Levien, Robert W. Lord,Mark A. Malamud, and John D. Rinaldo, Jr., as inventors, filed Mar. 31,2006, which is currently co-pending, or is an application of which acurrently co-pending application is entitled to the benefit of thefiling date.

For purposes of the USPTO extra-statutory requirements, the presentapplication constitutes a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/413,271, entitled Data Management of AudioAspects of a Data Stream, naming Edward K. Y. Jung, Royce A. Levien,Robert W. Lord, Mark A. Malamud, and John D. Rinaldo, Jr., as inventors,filed Apr. 28, 2006, which is currently co-pending, or is an applicationof which a currently co-pending application is entitled to the benefitof the filing date.

For purposes of the USPTO extra-statutory requirements, the presentapplication constitutes a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/434,568, entitled Degradation/PreservationManagement of Captured Data, naming Edward K. Y. Jung, Royce A. Levien,Robert W. Lord, Mark A. Malamud, and John D. Rinaldo, Jr., as inventors,filed May 15, 2006, which is currently co-pending, or is an applicationof which a currently co-pending application is entitled to the benefitof the filing date.

For purposes of the USPTO extra-statutory requirements, the presentapplication constitutes a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/441,785, entitled Preservation and/orDegradation of a Video/Audio Data Stream, naming Edward K. Y. Jung,Royce A. Levien, Robert W. Lord, Mark A. Malamud, and John D. Rinaldo,Jr., as inventors, filed May 26, 2006, which is currently co-pending, oris an application of which a currently co-pending application isentitled to the benefit of the filing date.

The United States Patent Office (USPTO) has published a notice to theeffect that the USPTO's computer programs require that patent applicantsreference both a serial number and indicate whether an application is acontinuation or continuation-in-part. Stephen G. Kunin, Benefit ofPrior-Filed Application, USPTO Official Gazette Mar. 18, 2003, availableat http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/sol/og/2003/week11/patbene.htm.The present applicant entity has provided above a specific reference tothe application(s) from which priority is being claimed as recited bystatute. Applicant entity understands that the statute is unambiguous inits specific reference language and does not require either a serialnumber or any characterization, such as “continuation” or“continuation-in-part,” for claiming priority to U.S. patentapplications. Notwithstanding the foregoing, applicant entityunderstands that the USPTO's computer programs have certain data entryrequirements, and hence applicant entity is designating the presentapplication as a continuation-in-part of its parent applications as setforth above, but expressly points out that such designations are not tobe construed in any way as any type of commentary and/or admission as towhether or not the present application contains any new matter inaddition to the matter of its parent application(s).

All subject matter of the Related Applications and of any and allparent, grandparent, great-grandparent, etc. applications of the RelatedApplications is incorporated herein by reference to the extent suchsubject matter is not inconsistent herewith.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present application relates, in general, to data management.

SUMMARY

In one aspect, a method related to data management includes but is notlimited to accepting input for designating a video/audio aspect of avideo/audio data stream; and accepting input for retaining thevideo/audio aspect of the video/audio data stream at a first resolution.In addition to the foregoing, other method aspects are described in theclaims, drawings, and text forming a part of the present application.

In one aspect, a system related to data management includes but is notlimited to circuitry for accepting input for designating a video/audioaspect of a video/audio data stream; and circuitry for accepting inputfor retaining the video/audio aspect of the video/audio data stream at afirst resolution. In addition to the foregoing, other system aspects aredescribed in the claims, drawings, and text forming a part of thepresent application.

In one or more various aspects, related systems include but are notlimited to circuitry and/or programming and/or electro-mechanicaldevices and/or optical devices for effecting the herein-referencedmethod aspects; the circuitry and/or programming and/orelectromechanical devices and/or optical devices can be virtually anycombination of hardware, software, and/or firmware configured to effectthe herein-referenced method aspects depending upon the design choicesof the system designer skilled in the art.

In one aspect, a program product related to data management includes butis not limited to a signal bearing medium bearing one or moreinstructions for accepting input for designating a video/audio aspect ofa video/audio data stream; and one or more instructions for acceptinginput for retaining the video/audio aspect of the video/audio datastream at a first resolution. In addition to the foregoing, otherprogram product aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and textforming a part of the present application.

In addition to the foregoing, various other method, system, and/orprogram product aspects are set forth and described in the teachingssuch as the text (e.g., claims and/or detailed description) and/ordrawings of the present application.

The foregoing is a summary and thus contains, by necessity,simplifications, generalizations and omissions of detail; consequently,those skilled in the art will appreciate that the summary isillustrative only and is NOT intended to be in any way limiting. Otheraspects, features, and advantages of the devices and/or processes and/orother subject matter described herein will become apparent in theteachings set forth herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 depicts two exemplary environments in which the methods andsystems described herein may be represented;

FIG. 2 depicts a high-level logic flowchart of an operational process;

FIG. 3 depicts several alternative implementations of the high-levelflowchart of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 illustrates a high-level logic flowchart of an operation process;

FIG. 5 depicts several alternative implementations of the high-levelflowchart of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 depicts several alternative implementations of the high-levelflowchart of FIG. 4.

The use of the same symbols in different drawings typically indicatessimilar or identical items.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, reference is made to theaccompanying drawings, which form a part hereof. In the drawings,similar symbols typically identify similar components, unless contextdictates otherwise. The illustrative embodiments described in thedetailed description, drawings, and claims are not meant to be limiting.Other embodiments may be utilized, and other changes may be made,without departing from the spirit or scope of the subject matterpresented here.

FIG. 1 depicts two exemplary environments in which the methods andsystems described herein may be represented. In the depicted exemplaryenvironment 100, illustrated are a variety of exemplary sensors: adigital video camera 102 operated by one or more users represented byuser 104, where the digital video camera 102 may have a capability torecord audio input; a digital video camera 106 used in conjunction witha digital still camera 108, where the digital video camera 106 and/ordigital still camera 108 may either or both have a capability to recordaudio input, both operated by one or more users represented by user 110;and a sensor suite 112 comprising more than one sensor represented bysensor 114 and sensor 116 (wherein the sensors 114 and 116 may be butneed not be physically co-located, and may be but need not be of thesame type, e.g., sensor 114 may be an infrared device and sensor 116 maybe a radar device, or, e.g. sensor 114 may be a microphone and thesensor 116 may be an infrared/visible light device), the sensor suitebeing operated by one or more users represented by user 118. Taken bythemselves, each of the sensors 114 and 116 are exemplary of singleindependent sensors, and further, either of the sensors 114 or 116 maybe audio sensors. The exemplary sensors may represent a variety ofdevices for the detection and/or the recording and/or the transmissionof imagery aspects, e.g., images, and/or audio aspects, e.g., instancesof particular voices and/or instances of particular sounds, includingbut not limited to microphones, digital video cameras, digital stillcameras, digital sensor (e.g. CCD or CMOS) arrays, and radar sets. Theexemplary users 104, 110, and/or 118 may, for example, operate theexemplary sensors manually or may supervise and/or monitor theirautomatic operation. The exemplary users 104, 110, and/or 118 mayoperate the exemplary sensors in physical proximity to the sensors orremotely. The exemplary sensors may also operate autonomously withoutexemplary users 104, 110, and/or 118. As used herein, “video/audioaspect” and “video/imagery/audio aspect” include a video aspect and/oran imagery aspect and/or an audio aspect, where “video aspect” and“imagery aspect” include data representing one or more moving or stillimages of one or more persons and/or objects and “audio aspect” includesaudio data representing one or more instances of one or more humanvoices and/or one or more sounds. Similarly, “video/audio data” and“video/imagery/audio data” include video data and/or imagery data and/oraudio data, where “video data” and “imagery data” include datarepresenting moving or still visual representations of objects and/orpeople and “audio data” includes data representing voices and/or sounds.Further, “video/audio data stream” and “video/imagery/audio data stream”include a data stream including video data and/or imagery data and/oraudio data; and “video/audio input” and “video/imagery/audio input”include input that includes video data and/or imagery data and/or audiodata.

The exemplary sensors may be used to detect and/or record and/ortransmit images and/or sounds and/or other data related to a widevariety of objects, represented in FIG. 1 by exemplary objects, a sphere120 and a cube 122. The sphere 120 and/or the cube 122 may be reflectorsand/or emitters of electromagnetic radiation such as visible lightand/or microwaves, reflectors and/or emitters of particulate radiationsuch as electrons and/or neutrons, and/or reflectors and/or emitters ofsonic energy. The sphere 120 and the cube 122 are representative of anyobject(s) or groups of objects, images and/or emitting and/or reflectingsources of sounds and/or other related data which may be detectableand/or recordable and/or transmissible by the exemplary sensors,including but not limited to persons, animals, buildings, roads,automobiles, trucks, aircraft, ships, spacecraft, landscape and/orseascape features, vegetation, and/or celestial objects. When usedtogether in any given example herein, the exemplary sphere 120 and theexemplary cube 122 generally represent two distinct objects which may ormay not be of the same or of a similar type, except where otherwiserequired by the context, e.g., a sphere 120 and a cube 122 used togetherin an example may represent a first particular object and a secondparticular object, e.g., a particular person and a particular building,or a particular first aircraft and a particular second aircraft,respectively. When used alone in any given example herein, thedesignated exemplary object, e.g., the sphere 120 or the cube 122,generally represents the same object, except where otherwise required bythe context, e.g., a sphere 120 used alone in an example generallyrepresents a single object, e.g., a single building, and a cube 122 usedalone generally represents a single object, e.g., a particular person.

Each of the exemplary sensors may detect and/or record and/or transmitimages and/or sounds and/or other related data of the exemplary objectsin a variety of combinations and sequences. For instance, the digitalvideo camera 102 may detect and/or record and/or transmit an imageand/or sound and/or other related data of the sphere 120 and then animage and/or sound and/or other related data of the cube 122sequentially, in either order; and/or, the digital video camera 106 maydetect and/or record and/or transmit a single image and/or sound and/orother related data of the sphere 120 and the cube 122 together.

Similarly, the digital video camera 106 may detect and/or record and/ortransmit an image and/or sound and/or other related data of the sphere120 and of the cube 122 sequentially, in either order, and/or of thesphere 120 and the cube 122 together, before, after, partiallysimultaneously with, or simultaneously with an operation of the digitalstill camera 108. The digital still camera 108 may detect and/or recordand/or transmit an image and/or sound and/or other related data of thesphere 120 and of the cube 122 sequentially, in either order, and/or ofthe sphere 120 and the cube 122 together, before, after, partiallysimultaneously with, or simultaneously with an operation of the digitalvideo camera 106.

Similarly, the sensor 114 and the sensor 116 of the sensor suite 112 maydetect and/or record and/or transmit an image and/or sound and/or otherrelated data of the sphere 120 and of the cube 122 sequentially, ineither order, and/or of the sphere 120 and the cube 122 together,before, after, partially simultaneously with, or simultaneously withrespect to each other.

Such images and/or sounds and/or related data may be recorded and/ortransmitted via a computer or computers represented by the network 124and/or directly to a processor 126 and/or processing logic 128, whichaccept data representing imagery aspects and/or sounds and/or relateddata pertaining to the exemplary objects. The processor 126 representsone or more processors that may be, for example, one or more computers,including but not limited to one or more laptop computers, desktopcomputers, and/or other types of computers. The processing logic 128 maybe hardware/software/firmware (e.g., hardware and/or software and/orfirmware) associated with the processor 126 and capable of acceptingand/or processing data representing imagery and/or sounds and/or otherrelated data aspects of the exemplary objects from the exemplary sensorsand from memory in the case of data stored in memory. Such processingmay include but is not limited to comparing at least a portion of thedata from one sensor with at least a portion of the data from the othersensor, and/or applying a mathematical process and/or heuristic processto at least a portion of the data from one sensor with at least aportion of the data from the other sensor, and/or accepting inputrelated to the analysis, manipulation, and/or retention of data from thesensors, including but not limited to live, substantially live, and/orretained data, e.g., stored in memory. Such processing may also include,but is not limited to, deriving third data from combining at least aportion of the data from one sensor with at least a portion of the datafrom another sensor.

The digital video camera 102, the digital video camera 106, the sensor114 and/or the sensor 116 (operating as components of sensor suite 112or separately as single independent sensors) may be capable of detectingand/or recording and/or transmitting information representingvideo/audio input and accepting input representing information for themanipulation and/or retention of such video/audio information, includingbut not limited to accepting input for a designation of a referencedesignator in a video/audio data stream (e.g., a data stream includingvideo and/or audio information) originating from one of the exemplarysensors via detection and/or transmission and/or playback; acceptinginput for a designation of a temporal beginning designator and/or abeginning demarcation designator in such a video/audio data stream;accepting input for a designation of a temporal ending designator and/oran ending demarcation designator in such a video/audio data stream; andaccepting input for retaining at a high resolution a portion of such avideo/audio data stream beginning substantially at the temporalbeginning designator and/or the beginning demarcation designator andending substantially at the temporal ending designator and/or the endingdemarcation designator. Such input may include confirmation of previousinput. Further, the processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 may becapable of receiving such a video/audio data stream from the exemplarysensors and/or from other computing resources and/or capable of playbackof such a video/audio data stream that has been previously retainedwithin the processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 and/orelsewhere. In addition, processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128may be capable of accepting input representing information for themanipulation and/or retention of such audio information, including theinput described herein in connection with the exemplary sensors.

In accepting input, an embodiment may accept input initiated in avariety of ways, including but not limited to initiation by one or morehuman users such as the users 104, 110, 118, and/or 130; by the actionof one or more processors and/or processing logic integral with,associated with, and/or operably coupled to a device such as the digitalvideo camera 102; by the action of a one or more processors such as theprocessor 126 and/or by processing logic such as the processing logic128; and/or by a combination of human and processor/processing logicinteraction, such as a user 130 interacting with the digital stillcamera 108 and/or the processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128.

Accepting input from one or more human users such as the users 104, 110,118, and/or 130 may include but is not limited to accepting inputinitiated by interaction with various interface devices such as computermouse devices, keyboards, and graphical user interfaces; with interfacedevices that detect sound, such as microphones; with interface devicesthat detect electromagnetic radiation, such as visible and/or infraredlight sensors and cameras; and with interface devices that presentvisual interface features such as graphical user interfaces.

Accepting input initiated by the action of one or more processors and/orprocessing logic, such as the processor 126 and/or the processing logic128 may include but is not limited to accepting input initiated by aprocessor and/or processor logic analysis of a data stream includingdetection of video/imagery/audio data that satisfies certain conditionsand/or parameters that require or indicate the usefulness of designationof those aspects or of reference points indicating the presence and/orlimits of those aspects. For example, the processor 126 and/or theprocessing logic 128 may, in an analysis of a video/imagery/audio datastream, whether the stream be live, substantially live, or retaineddata, detect the beginning of voice of a particular person of interestwhose vocal characteristics are available to the processor 126 and theprocessing logic 128 and which are used to define detection/recognitionparameters, and the processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 may,upon detection of the voice using those parameters, initiate input todesignate a portion of the data stream including the voice forretention.

Accepting input initiated by a combination of human andprocessor/processing logic interaction, such as a user 130 interactingwith the digital still camera 108 and/or the processor 126 and/or theprocessing logic 128, may include but is not limited to a user such asuser 110 interacting with the digital video camera 106, the processor126, and the processing logic 128 to review a video/imagery/audio datastream, detect video/imagery/audio aspects of interest such as imagesand voices of particular people and to designate for retention, commandretention of, and retain those aspects of interest.

With regard to accepting input designating a video/imagery aspect and/oran audio aspect of a video/audio data stream, such input may representan indication from an exemplary user 104, 110, 118, and/or 130, or fromthe processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128, of a video/imageryaspect and/or an audio aspect, e.g., video/imagery/audio information ofinterest, such as a particular human voice or a particular mechanicalsound, e.g., an auto engine, or the relative absence of sound, such as arelative silence between two human speakers or two musical phrases,and/or an image of a particular person of interest. Such designation maybe for the purpose or purposes of, e.g., retention at high resolution,interactive review of the portion of the video/audio data stream ofinterest, or analysis of the portion of interest. A video/imagery aspectand/or an audio aspect may be characterized at least in part by atemporal beginning, a temporal ending, an intensity and/or range ofintensities and/or distribution of intensities, a frequency and/or rangeof frequencies and/or distribution of frequencies.

With regard to input for a designation of a reference designator in avideo/audio data stream, such input may represent an indication from anexemplary user 104, 110, 118, and/or 130, or from the processor 126and/or the processing logic 128, of video/imagery/audio information ofinterest, such as a particular human voice or a particular mechanicalsound, e.g., an auto engine, or the relative absence of sound, such as arelative silence between the speeches of two human speakers or twomusical phrases, or an image of a particular object of interest. Thereference designator may be designated in the video/audio data streamsuch that it falls within and/or references a place within the portionof the video/audio data stream comprising the particularvideo/imagery/audio aspect of interest. The reference designator may bedesignated via initiating input in a variety of ways, including but notlimited to pressing a button on a computer interface device,manipulating features of a graphical interface such as pull-down menusor radio buttons, speaking into a microphone, and/or using the processor126 and/or the processing logic 128 to initiate automatically such inputwhen the data in a video/audio data stream satisfies some criteria forvideo/imagery/audio data of interest.

With regard to input for designation of a temporal beginning designatorand/or a beginning demarcation designator in a video/audio data stream,such input may represent an indication from an exemplary user 104, 110,118, and/or 130, or from the processor 126 and/or the processing logic128, of a point in the video/audio data stream at which a portion ofinterest of the video/audio data stream begins, such as (but not limitedto) the end of a relative silence (e.g., silence except for backgroundand/or artifact noise) occurring last before a designated referencedesignator, the beginning of the sound of interest or of one or more ofthe sounds accompanying a sound of interest, or the end of a soundoccurring last before a designated reference designator, or thebeginning of a video image of a particular person of interest. Thetemporal beginning designator and/or the beginning demarcationdesignator may be designated in the video/audio data stream such that itfalls within and/or references a place at or near the beginning of theportion of the video/audio data stream comprising the particular soundof interest. The temporal beginning designator and/or the beginningdemarcation designator may be designated via initiating input in avariety of ways, including but not limited to pressing a button on acomputer interface device, manipulating features of a graphicalinterface such as pull-down menus or radio buttons, speaking into amicrophone, and/or using the processor 126 and/or the processing logic128 to initiate automatically such input when the data in a video/audiodata stream satisfies some criteria for demarcation ofvideo/imagery/audio data of interest.

With regard to input for designation of a temporal ending designatorand/or an ending demarcation designator in a video/audio data stream,such input may represent an indication from an exemplary user 104, 110,118, and/or 130, or from the processor 126 and/or the processing logic128, of a point in the video/audio data stream at which a portion ofinterest of the video/audio data stream ends. The temporal endingdesignator and/or the ending demarcation designator may represent thepoint in the video/audio data stream falling at the end of a portion ofinterest, such as (but not limited to) the end of the presence of animage of a vehicle of interest, the end of a relative silence (e.g.,silence except for background and/or artifact noise) occurring justafter the end of the sound of interest or of one or more of the soundsaccompanying a sound of interest, or the end of a sound occurring justafter a designated reference designator. The temporal ending designatorand/or the ending demarcation designator may be designated in thevideo/audio data stream such that it falls within and/or references aplace at or near the end of the portion of the video/audio data streamcomprising the particular sound of interest. The temporal endingdesignator and/or the ending demarcation designator may be designatedvia initiating input in a variety of ways, including but not limited topressing a button on a computer interface device, manipulating featuresof a graphical interface such as pull-down menus or radio buttons,speaking into a microphone, and/or using the processor 126 and/or theprocessing logic 128 to initiate automatically such input when the datain a video/audio data stream satisfies some criteria forvideo/imagery/audio data of interest.

With regard to input for retaining at a high resolution a portion of avideo/audio data stream, including but not limited to avideo/imagery/audio aspect of a video/audio data stream, such highresolution retention includes but is not limited to storage of arelatively large amount of data, compared to storage of portions of thedata stream not selected for high resolution retention, as describedherein. Such input may include but is not limited to designation of ahigh resolution value, e.g., 0.5 MB/second, and/or frequency spectrumcharacteristics, e.g., lower and upper frequency cut-offs. For example,the user 130 may provide input to the processor 126 and/or theprocessing logic 128 to identify a portion of a video/audio data streamfor retention at high resolution, e.g., input designating an audioaspect of a video/audio data stream and/or input designating avideo/imagery aspect of a video/audio data stream. The processor 126and/or the processing logic 128 may accept the input, enabling theidentified portion (e.g., a designated audio aspect) to be stored withhigh fidelity relative to the source video/audio and with a relativelysmall proportion of data (if any) discarded, while the portion orportions not selected for high resolution retention, e.g., a residue,may be stored at a relatively lower resolution, e.g., with a relativelyhigher proportion of data discarded, e.g., to save storage resources.

Retention of a portion, e.g., a video/imagery/audio aspect, of avideo/audio data stream at a relatively high resolution and retention ofportions of the video/audio data stream not included in the portiondesignated for retention at the high resolution, e.g., a residue, mayresult in storage of the portion not included in the portion to beretained at the high resolution at one or more resolutions that do notuse all of the data available, such that the portion not to be retainedat the high resolution is degraded in storage. Degradation of a portionnot included in the portion retained or designated for retention at highresolution may be achieved by retaining the not-included portion at oneor more lower resolutions, where the one or more lower resolutions maybe a function of the distance in the video/audio data stream between theportion to be retained at a high resolution and the portion to beretained at one or more lower resolutions, including but not limited todegrading blocks of data not included in the high resolution portionaccording to their distance from the high resolution portion (e.g.,degrading to one lower resolution a portion between 0 and 60 secondsfrom the high resolution portion, and degrading to another, even lowerresolution a portion between 60 and 120 seconds from the high resolutionportion, and so on). One or more inputs may be accepted to set one ormore rules by which a portion of a video/audio data stream not includedin a portion designated for high resolution retention is degraded and/orretained at one or more lower resolutions. One or more inputs fordegradation may be accepted to specify parameters including but notlimited to one or more specific resolution values (e.g., 12 kB/secand/or 20 kB/sec), one or more frequency range characteristics, and/orone or more frequency distribution characteristics. Degradation to oneor more lower resolutions may be correlated to one or more specifiedfrequency ranges and/or one or more specified frequency distributioncharacteristics, such as specific lower resolutions for all sounds above100 Hz, and/or between 2 kHz and 20 kHz, and/or below 5 kHz, and/or oneor more specific lower resolutions for all sounds conforming to aspecific frequency distribution characteristic of a particular humanvoice or musical instrument, and/or, with regard to video/imagery,specific lower resolution for parts of a video/audio data stream that donot include video/imagery of a particular color range. Degradation toone or more lower resolutions may be correlated to the time frame inwhich a portion of a video/audio data stream has been detected and/orrecorded and/or transmitted and/or stored, e.g., video/audio datadetected and/or recorded and/or transmitted and/or stored within a weekmay be retained at the resolution at which it was detected and/orrecorded and/or transmitted and/or stored, while data detected and/orrecorded and/or transmitted and/or stored between one and two weeks agomay be degraded to 80% of the resolution at which it was detected and/orrecorded and/or transmitted and/or stored, and data detected and/orrecorded and/or transmitted and/or stored between two and four weeks agomay be degraded to 60% of the resolution at which it was detected and/orrecorded and/or transmitted and/or stored, and so on. One or more inputsmay be accepted to confirm previous inputs or default values related todegrading data and/or retaining such data at a relatively lowerresolution value. One or more inputs may be accepted for degrading aportion of a video/audio data stream not included in a portiondesignated for retention at high resolution. Inputs may include but notbe limited to tactile, sonic, and/or visual inputs. Such an input may beinitiated by an action by a user 104, 110, 118, or 130, e.g., pressing amouse button and/or speaking into a microphone, or the input may beinitiated by operation of some hardware/software/firmware, e.g., audioprocessing software such as the processor 126 and/or the processinglogic 128, or it may be initiated by some combination of human andautomated action.

In addition to accepting inputs for degrading to at least one lowerresolution a portion of a video/audio data stream not included in aportion designated for retention at high resolution, degrading and/orretaining at a lower resolution a portion of a video/audio data streamnot included in a portion designated for retention at high resolutionmay also be performed. Retention at one or more lower resolutions may beperformed, e.g., by using one or more memory locations associated withand/or operably coupled to the digital video camera 102 and/or thedigital video camera 106 and/or the sensor 114 and/or the sensor 116and/or the processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128. Degradationmay be performed by methods including but not limited to datacompression and/or data redaction.

With respect to this example, input for the identification of aparticular portion for retention at a relatively higher resolution doesnot preclude input for the storage of a distinct and/or an overlappingportion of the data stream at a distinct higher resolution compared tothe retention resolution of one or more portions not identified forretention at a higher resolution, e.g., one or more portions of a datastream may be identified for retention at one or more relatively highresolutions. Similarly, input for the identification of a particularportion for retention at a relatively lower resolution does not precludeinput for the storage of a distinct and/or an overlapping portion of thedata stream at a distinct lower resolution compared to the retentionresolution of one or more portions identified for retention at a higherresolution, e.g., one or more portions of a data stream may beidentified for retention at one or more relatively lower resolutions.

Further, a video/imagery aspect may be designated for retention orretained at a particular resolution on the basis of a presence orabsence of some audio aspect of a video/audio stream, and an audioaspect may be designated for retention or retained at a particularresolution on the basis of a presence or absence of some video/imageryaspect of a video/audio stream. For instance, the presence of an imageof a particular person of interest in a video/audio data stream mayserve as the basis for a designation of an audio aspect of thevideo/audio data stream for retention at high resolution, and viceversa.

A particular portion identified for retention at a high or a lowresolution may include more than one data set that may generally beconsidered to constitute a “frame” in a video/audio data stream. Withrespect to this example, digital video cameras 102 and/or 106 arerepresentative of any sensor or sensor suite capable of detecting and/orrecording and/or transmitting video/audio input as one or more datastreams representing the video/audio information. Such input may beinitiated in a variety of ways, including but not limited to pressing abutton on a computer interface device, manipulating features of agraphical interface such as pull-down menus or radio buttons, speakinginto a microphone, and/or using the processor 126 and/or the processinglogic 128 to initiate automatically such input when the data in avideo/audio data stream satisfies some criteria for video/imagery/audiodata of interest.

With regard to retaining at a high resolution a portion of a video/audiodata stream, e.g., a video/imagery/audio aspect of the video/audio datastream, such retention may include storage in computer memory, such asmemory associated with and/or operably coupled to the processor 126and/or the processing logic 128.

The exemplary sensors may be capable of detecting and/or recordingand/or transmitting one or more imagery and/or sound and/or otherrelated data aspects of the exemplary objects, the one or more imageryaspects and/or sound and/or other related data aspects being defined inpart, but not exclusively, by exemplary parameters such as focal length,aperture (f-stop being one parameter for denoting aperture), t-stop,shutter speed, sensor sensitivity (such as film sensitivity (e.g., filmspeed) and/or digital sensor sensitivity), exposure (which may be variedby varying, e.g., shutter speed and/or aperture), frequency and/orwavelength, focus, depth of field, white balance (and/or white point,color temperature, and/or micro reciprocal degree or “mired”),signal/noise ratio, an identified voice of a person or machine, and/orflash (sound aspects are described elsewhere herein). Some or all of theparameters that may define at least in part imagery and/or sounds and/orother related data aspects may have further defining parameters. Forexample, a frequency and/or wavelength parameter may be associated withone or more bandwidth parameters; and a flash parameter may beassociated with one or more parameters for, e.g., duration, intensity,and/or special distribution. Note that although certain examples hereindiscuss bracketing and/or imagery aspects and/or exemplary parameters inthe context of more or less “still” images for sake of clarity,techniques described herein are also applicable to streams of images,such as would typically be produced by digital video cameras 102/106 andthus the use of such, and other, exemplary terms herein are meant toencompass both still and video bracketing/aspects/parameters/etc. unlesscontext dictates otherwise. For instance, the bracketing might includebracketing over, say, 20 frames of video.

Each of the exemplary sensors may detect and/or record and/or transmitone or more imagery aspects and/or sound aspects and/or other relateddata aspects of an exemplary object at more than one setting of each ofthe available parameters, thereby bracketing the exemplary object.Generally, “bracketing” includes the imagery technique of making severalimages of the same object or objects using different settings, typicallywith a single imagery device such as digital video camera 106. Forexample, the digital video camera 106 may detect and/or record and/ortransmit a series of imagery aspects of the cube 122 at a number ofdifferent f-stops; before, after, partially simultaneously with, and/orsimultaneously with that series of imagery aspects, another digitalvideo camera 106 and/or another type of sensor, such as sensor 114 maydetect and/or record and/or transmit a series of imagery aspects of thesphere 120 and of the cube 122 at a number of different white balances.The processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 may then accept, viathe network 124 or directly, data representing the imagery aspectsdetected and/or recorded and/or transmitted by the digital video cameras102 and 106 or by the digital video camera 106 and the sensor 114. Theprocessor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 may then combine at leasta portion of the data from one of the sensors with at least a portion ofthe data from another sensor, e.g., comparing the data from the twosensors, for example, deriving an identity of color and orientation fromthe bracketing imagery aspect data of two cubes 122 from digital videocamera 106 and sensor 114.

Exemplary digital video cameras 102 and/or 106 may also be capable ofdetecting and/or recording and/or transmitting video/audio input as oneor more data streams representing the video/audio information. Exemplaryusers 104 and/or 110 and/or another person and/or entity such as user130 may provide input to the digital video camera 102 and/or theprocessor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 to select at least aportion of a data stream representing the video/audio information forretention at high resolution (where retention at high resolution is asdescribed herein), e.g., imagery such as an image of a particular objectand/or an audio aspect such as an instance of a particular voice and/oran instance of a particular sound. With respect to this example, digitalvideo cameras 102 and/or 106 are representative of any sensor or sensorsuite capable of detecting and/or recording and/or transmittingvideo/audio input as one or more data streams representing thevideo/audio information.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the explicitly describedexamples involving the exemplary sensors (e.g., the digital video camera102, the digital video camera 106, the digital still camera 108, and thesensor suite 112 including sensor 114 and sensor 116), the exemplaryusers (e.g., users 104, 110, and 118), the exemplary objects (e.g., thesphere 120 and the cube 122), the network 124, the exemplary processor126, and the exemplary processing logic 128 constitute only a few of theaspects illustrated by FIG. 1A.

In the exemplary environment 131, users 130, 132, 134, and 136 may beparticipants in a teleconference conducted usingvoice-over-internet-protocol (“VoIP”) technology, such as that providedby such commercial concerns as Vonage® and Skype™. User 132 uses device138, which may include a computer, a telephone equipped for VoIPcommunication such as an analog telephone adaptor, an IP phone, or someother item of VoIP-enabling hardware/software/firmware, to conduct aconversation by audio means with users 134 and 136 using device 140,which also may include a computer, a telephone equipped for VoIPcommunication such as an analog telephone adaptor, an IP phone, or someother item of VoIP-enabling hardware/software/firmware. The devices 138and 140 are representative of any number of such devices that may beused to conduct a VoIP teleconference including any number ofparticipating parties. Because VoIP uses packet switching, packetsconveying audio data travel between the device 138 and the device 140 bydifferent routes over the network 124 to be assembled in the properorder at their destinations. During a conversation in this exemplaryenvironment, an audio data stream may be formed as packets are createdand/or transmitted at a source device, either the device 138 or thedevice 140, and this audio data stream is reassembled at the destinationdevice. Audio data streams may be formed and reassembled at the devices138 and 140 simultaneously. Multiple audio data streams representingdifferent speakers or other distinct audio information sources may begenerated and reassembled by the devices 138 and/or 140 during a VoIPteleconference.

Where VoIP technology is being used in conjunction with users usingstandard telephone equipment connected to the Public Switched TelephoneNetwork (“PSTN”), packets created by VoIP equipment such as the device138 and/or 140 are conveyed over the network 124, reassembled by adevice analogous to the devices 138 and/or 140, and transmitted to thestandard telephone user over the PSTN.

An exemplary embodiment may include accepting input designating an audioaspect of an audio data stream created at the device 138 and/or thedevice 140, where the designation may be for the purpose or purposes of,e.g., retention at high resolution, interactive review of the portion ofthe audio data stream of interest, or analysis of the portion ofinterest. An exemplary embodiment may include accepting input for adesignation of a reference designator in an audio data stream created atthe device 138 and/or the device 140, accepting input for a designationof a beginning demarcation designator an audio data stream created atthe device 138 and/or the device 140, accepting input for a designationof an ending demarcation designator an audio data stream created at thedevice 138 and/or the device 140, accepting input for retaining at highresolution, e.g., storing at high resolution in computer memory, audiodata from the audio data stream beginning substantially at the beginningdemarcation designator and ending substantially at the endingdemarcation designator, and retaining at a high resolution such audiodata. These operations may be performed by, for example the processor126 and/or the processing logic 128, which may be incorporated with thedevice 138 and/or 140, partially incorporated with the device 138 and/or140, or separated but operably coupled to the device 138 and/or 140.Each of these operations may be initiated by human action, e.g., theuser 130 and/or 132 and/or 134 and/or 136 pressing a button, speakinginto a microphone, and/or interacting with graphical user interfacefeatures, or they may be initiated by operation of somehardware/software/firmware, e.g., audio processing software such as theprocessor 126 and/or the processing logic 128, or they may be initiatedby some combination of human and automated action. Each of theseoperations may be performed as an audio data stream is being created atthe device 138 and/or 140, and/or as an audio data stream is beingreassembled at the device 138 and/or 140, and/or as an audio data streamstored from a VoIP teleconference is played back or analyzed.

A reference designator may include information such as an identifierthat identifies the particular audio data stream of interest and a placein the audio data stream at which the information of interest ispresent, e.g., a place in the stream at which a particular speaker isspeaking, and/or may fall within the audio data stream at such a place.A beginning demarcation designator may include an identifier thatidentifies the particular audio data stream of interest and anidentifier of the first packet of a sequence of packets of interestand/or may fall within the audio data stream. An ending demarcationdesignator may include an identifier that identifies the particularaudio data stream of interest and an identifier of the last packet of asequence of packets of interest and/or may fall within the audio datastream.

Accepting input for retaining at high resolution a designated aspect ofan audio data stream, as described elsewhere herein, may be performed,e.g., by using the devices 138 and/or 140 in addition to the devices foraccepting input described in connection with FIG. 1. Such an input maybe initiated by an action by a user 104, 110, 118, 130, 132, 134, and/or136, e.g., pressing a mouse button and/or speaking into a microphone, orthe input may be initiated by operation of somehardware/software/firmware, e.g., audio processing software such as theprocessor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 and/or devices 138, 140,or it may be initiated by some combination of human and automatedaction. Retaining at a high resolution a portion of an audio data streamdesignated for retention at a high resolution, as described elsewhereherein, may be performed, e.g., using memory resources associated withand/or operably coupled to the devices 138 and/or 140 in addition to thedevices for data retention described in connection with FIG. 1.

Accepting input for degradation and/or retaining at a lower resolution aportion of an audio data stream not included in a portion of the audiodata stream designated for retention at a high resolution, as describedelsewhere herein, may be performed, e.g., by using the devices 138and/or 140 in addition to the devices for accepting input described inconnection with FIG. 1. Such an input may be initiated by an action by auser 104, 110, 118, 130, 132, 134, and/or 136, e.g., pressing a mousebutton and/or speaking into a microphone, or the input may be initiatedby operation of some hardware/software/firmware, e.g., processingsoftware such as the processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128and/or devices 138, 140, or it may be initiated by some combination ofhuman and automated action. Degradation and/or retaining at a lowerresolution a portion of an audio data stream not included in a portionof the audio data stream designated for retention at a high resolution,as described elsewhere herein, may be performed, e.g., using memoryresources associated with and/or operably coupled to the devices 138and/or 140 in addition to the devices for data retention described inconnection with FIG. 1.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the explicitly describedexamples involving the exemplary sensors (the digital video camera 102,the digital video camera 106, the digital still camera 108, and thesensor suite 112 including sensor 114 and sensor 116), the exemplarydevices (138 and 140) the exemplary users (users 104, 110, 118, 130,132, 134, and 136), the exemplary objects (the sphere 120 and the cube122), the network 124, the exemplary processor 126, and the exemplaryprocessing logic 128 constitute only a few of the aspects illustrated byFIG. 1.

Following are a series of flowcharts depicting implementations ofprocesses. For ease of understanding, the flowcharts are organized suchthat the initial flowcharts present implementations via an overall “bigpicture” viewpoint and thereafter the following flowcharts presentalternate implementations and/or expansions of the “big picture”flowcharts as either sub-steps or additional steps building on one ormore earlier-presented flowcharts. Those having skill in the art willappreciate that the style of presentation utilized herein (e.g.,beginning with a presentation of a flowchart(s) presenting an overallview and thereafter providing additions to and/or further details insubsequent flowcharts) generally allows for a rapid and easyunderstanding of the various process implementations. In addition, thoseskilled in the art will further appreciate that the style ofpresentation used herein also lends itself well to modular and/orobject-oriented program design paradigms.

FIG. 2 depicts a high-level logic flowchart of an operational process.The illustrated process may include operation 200 and/or operation 202.Operation 200 shows accepting input for designating a video/audio aspectof a video/audio data stream. Operation 200 may include, for example,accepting input, via the digital video camera 102 and/or the digitalvideo camera 106 and/or the digital still camera 108 and/or the sensor114 and/or the sensor 116 and/or the processor 126 and/or the processinglogic 128 and/or the device 138 and/or the device 140, for designatingone or more instances of a particular voice and/or mechanical noise suchas an automobile engine in a video/audio data stream, by means of, e.g.,a reference designator, specification of beginning and/or ending timeindices, and/or specification of video and/or audio characteristics. Thevideo/audio data stream may be, for example, a live or substantiallylive data stream from a sensor or sensors or an apparatus or anapparatus set such as that associated with a VoIP teleconference, suchas devices 138 and/or 140, or a stored set of data that is beingreviewed in playback or analyzed, either by one or more human users, oneor more automated systems, or some combination of the two. Such an inputmay be initiated by an action by a user 104, 110, 118, 130, 132, 134,and/or 136, e.g., pressing a mouse button and/or speaking into amicrophone, or the input may be initiated by operation of somehardware/software/firmware, e.g., processing software such as theprocessor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 and/or devices 138, 140,or it may be initiated by some combination of human and automatedaction.

Operation 202 depicts accepting input for retaining the video/audioaspect of the video/audio data stream at a first resolution. Operation202 may include, for example, accepting input, via the digital videocamera 102 and/or the digital video camera 106 and/or the digital stillcamera 108 and/or the sensor 114 and/or the sensor 116 and/or theprocessor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 and/or the device 138and/or the device 140, for retaining, at a relatively high resolution,of the video/audio aspect of the video/audio data stream designated bythe input accepted in operation 200, in one or more memory locationsassociated with and/or operably coupled to the digital video camera 102and/or the digital video camera 106 and/or the sensor 114 and/or thesensor 116 and/or the processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128and/or the device 138 and/or the device 140. Such an input may beinitiated by an action by a user 104, 110, 118, 130, 132, 134, and/or136, e.g., pressing a mouse button and/or speaking into a microphone, orthe input may be initiated by operation of somehardware/software/firmware, e.g., processing software such as theprocessor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 and/or devices 138, 140,or it may be initiated by some combination of human and automatedaction.

FIG. 3 depicts several alternative implementations of the high-levelflowchart of FIG. 2. Operation 200—accepting input for designating avideo/audio aspect of a video/audio data stream—may include one or moreof the following operations: 300, 302, 304, 306, 308, 310, 312, and/or314.

Operation 300 shows accepting the input for designating the video/audioaspect of the video/audio data stream, wherein the designating thevideo/audio aspect of the video/audio data stream includes a designatingof at least one instance of a distinct human voice and/or at least oneinstance of a distinct sound and/or at least one instance of an image ofa distinct object. Operation 300 may include, for example, acceptinginput, via the digital video camera 102 and/or the digital video camera106 and/or the digital still camera 108 and/or the sensor 114 and/or thesensor 116 and/or the processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128and/or the device 138 and/or the device 140, for designating forinclusion in the video/audio data stream one or more instances of adistinct human voice, e.g., a sequence of utterances by a single speakeror a set of speakers in a live or a recorded conversation, such as aconversation conducted using VoIP, where the voice or voices may betemporally isolated or may be temporally overlapped by other voicesand/or sounds but separable by discernment of distinct characteristicssuch as tonal quality or frequency, by, for instance, a human listenerand/or by an automated voice recognition system.

Operation 300 may also include, for example, accepting input, via thedigital video camera 102 and/or the digital video camera 106 and/or thedigital still camera 108 and/or the sensor 114 and/or the sensor 116and/or the processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 and/or thedevice 138 and/or the device 140, for designating for inclusion in thevideo/audio data stream one or more instances of a distinct sound or aset of distinct sounds, e.g., the sounds emitted from a particularmusical instrument or a group of instruments, a distinct and particularautomobile engine's sonic emissions or a group of such engines' sonicemissions, or some disparate suite of sounds such as one or more machinenoises and one or more animal noises, where the sound or sounds ofinterest may be temporally isolated or may be temporally overlapped byother sounds but separable by use of distinct characteristics such astonal quality or frequency, by, for example, one or more human listenersand/or one or more automated sound analysis system.

Operation 300 may further include, for example, accepting input, via thedigital video camera 102 and/or the digital video camera 106 and/or thedigital still camera 108 and/or the sensor 114 and/or the sensor 116and/or the processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 and/or thedevice 138 and/or the device 140, for designating for inclusion in thevideo/audio data stream one or more instances of a distinct image or aset of distinct images, e.g., images of people or objects of interest,represented for example by the sphere 120 and/or the cube 122, where theimage or images of interest may be partially overlapped by other imagesbut are separable by use of distinct characteristics such as color orshape, by, for example, one or more human users and/or one or moreautomated image analysis systems.

Such an input may be initiated by an action by a user 104, 110, 118,130, 132, 134, and/or 136, e.g., pressing a mouse button and/or speakinginto a microphone, or the input may be initiated by operation of somehardware/software/firmware, e.g., processing software such as theprocessor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 and/or devices 138, 140,or it may be initiated by some combination of human and automatedaction.

Operation 302 illustrates accepting the input for designating thevideo/audio aspect of the video/audio data stream, wherein thevideo/audio aspect of the video/audio data stream includes at least oneinstance of a distinct human voice and/or at least one instance of adistinct sound and/or at least one instance of an image of a distinctobject. Operation 302, for example, may include accepting input, via thedigital video camera 102 and/or the digital video camera 106 and/or thedigital still camera 108 and/or the sensor 114 and/or the sensor 116and/or the processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 and/or thedevice 138 and/or the device 140, for designating a video/audio datastream that includes one or more instances of a distinct human voice,e.g., a contribution to a conversation, such as a VoIP teleconference,where the voice or voices may be temporally isolated or may betemporally overlapped by other voices and/or sounds but separable bydiscernment of distinct characteristics such as tonal quality orfrequency, by, for instance, a human listener and/or by an automatedvoice recognition system.

Operation 302 may also include, for instance, accepting input, via thedigital video camera 102 and/or the digital video camera 106 and/or thedigital still camera 108 and/or the sensor 114 and/or the sensor 116and/or the processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 and/or thedevice 138 and/or the device 140, for designating for inclusion in thevideo/audio data stream one or more instances of a distinct sound or setof sounds, such as the sonic emissions of a group of distinct andparticular machines or of a group of distinct and particular animalcalls, e.g., where the sound or sounds of interest may be temporallyisolated or may be temporally overlapped by other sounds but separableby use of distinct characteristics such as tonal quality or frequency,by, for example, one or more human listeners and/or one or moreautomated sound analysis system.

Operation 302 may also include, for example, accepting input, via thedigital video camera 102 and/or the digital video camera 106 and/or thedigital still camera 108 and/or the sensor 114 and/or the sensor 116and/or the processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 and/or thedevice 138 and/or the device 140, for designating for inclusion in thevideo/audio data stream one or more instances of a distinct image or setof distinct images, such as images of particular people or objects ofinterest, where the image or images of interest may be partiallyoverlapped by other images but are separable by use of distinctcharacteristics such as color or shape, by, for example, one or morehuman users and/or one or more automated image analysis systems.

Such an input may be initiated by an action by a user 104, 110, 118,130, 132, 134, and/or 136, e.g., pressing a mouse button and/or speakinginto a microphone, or the input may be initiated by operation of somehardware/software/firmware, e.g., processing software such as theprocessor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 and/or devices 138, 140,or it may be initiated by some combination of human and automatedaction.

Operation 304 depicts accepting the input for designating thevideo/audio aspect of the video/audio data stream, wherein thevideo/audio aspect of the video/audio data stream includes a portion ofvideo/audio data included in a temporal segment of the video/audio datastream. Operation 304 may include, for example, accepting input, via thedigital video camera 102 and/or the digital video camera 106 and/or thedigital still camera 108 and/or the sensor 114 and/or the sensor 116and/or the processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 and/or thedevice 138 and/or the device 140, for designating a video/audio aspectof the video/audio data stream that includes video and/or audio datafrom a single segment of the stream with no, or substantially no,time-wise breaks or gaps. Such a temporal segment might run, forinstance, from one point in time in the stream to another point in timein the stream. Such a temporal segment might include, for instance, thevideo and/or audio of a bank customer's interaction with a teller asrecorded by a security surveillance system, from the time the customersteps up to the counter to the time he leaves the system's visual fieldof view. Further, such a temporal segment might exclude sounds and/orvoices other than those desired by a human user or selected by anautomated processing system through the use of filtering to retain onlya voice (or voices) and/or a sound (or sounds) of interest, such asretaining the voices of the customer and the teller in the example ofthe bank customer's interaction with the teller. It will be appreciatedby those skilled in the art that a portion of video/audio data includedin a temporal segment of the video/audio data stream may encompass partor all of such video data in the temporal segment. Such an input may beinitiated by an action by a user 104, 110, 118, 130, 132, 134, and/or136, e.g., pressing a mouse button and/or speaking into a microphone, orthe input may be initiated by operation of somehardware/software/firmware, e.g., processing software such as theprocessor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 and/or devices 138, 140,or it may be initiated by some combination of human and automatedaction.

Operation 306 depicts accepting the input for designating thevideo/audio aspect of the video/audio data stream, wherein thevideo/audio aspect of the video/audio data stream includes a portion ofvideo/audio data included in a plurality of non-contiguous temporalsegments of the video/audio data stream. Operation 306 may include, forexample, accepting input, via the digital video camera 102 and/or thedigital video camera 106 and/or the digital still camera 108 and/or thesensor 114 and/or the sensor 116 and/or the processor 126 and/or theprocessing logic 128 and/or the device 138 and/or the device 140, fordesignating a video/audio aspect of the video/audio data stream thatincludes two or more segments of the stream, each of which has no, orsubstantially no, time-wise breaks or gaps, but which are separated fromeach other by time-wise breaks or gaps. Such a plurality of temporalsegments might include, for example, three instances of a particularhuman voice in a conversation involving two people, such that thevideo/audio aspect includes each instance of one of the two voices butexcludes the other voice. Similarly, a plurality of temporal segmentsmay be such that the video/audio aspect might include a disconnectedseries of clips of a video of a person in which she appears in camerarange, excluding clips in which she does not appear, and possiblyexcluding other video images in the frames in which she appears.Further, such a plurality of temporal segments might include, forexample, a combination of video and audio data, such as a set ofvideo/audio clips, separated from each other in time, of one person in aconversation, each of which shows her speaking and contains the audio ofher speech, but omits those periods in which she is silent. Such aplurality of temporal segments might exclude, from any or all of thetemporal segments, sounds and/or voices and/or images other than thosedesired by a human user or selected by an automated processing systemthrough the use of filtering and/or masking and/or image discriminationto retain only a voice (or voices) and/or a sound (or sounds) and/or animage (or images) of interest. To take another example, a video/audioaspect might include the video data representing a single person in aset of video/audio clips, each separated in time from the others, of acrowded room, as determined by a human user and/or by an automatedobject discrimination system. Another video/audio aspect might includethe audio data of one particular person among many in a multiple-personconversation, and still another video/audio aspect might include videoof such a person only when he is in camera range and audio dataconsisting of his contributions to the conversation while omitting audiodata of others' speech. Such a video/audio aspect might exclude soundsand/or voices and/or images other than those desired by a human userand/or selected by an automated processing system through the use offiltering and/or masking and/or image discrimination to retain only avoice (or voices) and/or a sound (or sounds) and/or an image (or images)of interest. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that aportion of video/audio data included in a plurality of temporal segmentsof the video/audio data stream may encompass part or all of such videodata in one or more of the temporal segments of the plurality of suchsegments. Such an input may be initiated by an action by a user 104,110, 118, 130, 132, 134, and/or 136, e.g., pressing a mouse buttonand/or speaking into a microphone, or the input may be initiated byoperation of some hardware/software/firmware, e.g., processing softwaresuch as the processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 and/or devices138, 140, or it may be initiated by some combination of human andautomated action.

Operation 308 shows accepting input for designating the video/audioaspect of the video/audio data stream, wherein the video/audio datastream is a live and/or a substantially live video/audio data stream.Operation 308, for example, may include accepting input, via the digitalvideo camera 102 and/or the digital video camera 106 and/or the digitalstill camera 108 and/or the sensor 114 and/or the sensor 116 and/or theprocessor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 and/or the device 138and/or the device 140, for designating a video/audio aspect of avideo/audio data stream originating from the digital video camera 106,where the video/audio data stream is originating from the digital videocamera 106 as, or substantially as (e.g., with a minimal delay), thedata is being detected and/or recorded and/or transmitted. Such an inputmay be initiated by an action by a user 104, 110, 118, 130, 132, 134,and/or 136, e.g., pressing a mouse button and/or speaking into amicrophone, or the input may be initiated by operation of somehardware/software/firmware, e.g., processing software such as theprocessor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 and/or devices 138, 140,or it may be initiated by some combination of human and automatedaction.

Operation 310 shows accepting input for designating the video/audioaspect of the video/audio data stream, wherein the video/audio datastream is a retained video/audio data stream. Operation 310, forexample, may include, accepting input, via the digital video camera 102and/or the digital video camera 106 and/or the digital still camera 108and/or the sensor 114 and/or the sensor 116 and/or the processor 126and/or the processing logic 128 and/or the device 138 and/or the device140, for designating a video/audio aspect of a video/audio data streamfrom the digital video camera 106, where the video/audio aspect is beingplayed backed from data storage or is being recalled from storage foranalysis. Such an input may be initiated by an action by a user 104,110, 118, 130, 132, 134, and/or 136, e.g., pressing a mouse buttonand/or speaking into a microphone, or the input may be initiated byoperation of some hardware/software/firmware, e.g., processing softwaresuch as the processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 and/or devices138, 140, or it may be initiated by some combination of human andautomated action.

Operation 312 illustrates accepting input for designating a firstresolution value. Operation 312 may include, for instance, acceptinginput, via the digital video camera 102 and/or the digital video camera106 and/or the digital still camera 108 and/or the sensor 114 and/or thesensor 116 and/or the processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128and/or the device 138 and/or the device 140, for designating aparticular high resolution value for audio data, such as 96 kB/sec (ascompared to a relatively lower resolution value such as 12 kB/sec),and/or for designating a particular high resolution value for video dataof a video/audio aspect of a video/audio data stream, such as 1 MB/sec(as compared to a relatively lower value of 0.1 MB/sec). Such an inputmay be initiated by an action by a user 104, 110, 118, 130, 132, 134,and/or 136, e.g., pressing a mouse button and/or speaking into amicrophone, or the input may be initiated by operation of somehardware/software/firmware, e.g., processing software such as theprocessor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 and/or devices 138, 140,or it may be initiated by some combination of human and automatedaction.

Operation 314 depicts accepting a tactile input and/or a sonic inputand/or a visual input. Operation 314 may include, for example, acceptinginput, via the digital video camera 102 and/or the digital video camera106 and/or the digital still camera 108 and/or the sensor 114 and/or thesensor 116 and/or the processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128and/or the device 138 and/or the device 140, where the input may beinitiated by a user 104, 110, 118, 130, 132, 134, and/or 136mechanically manipulating an interface device and/or feature, such as amouse input device, and/or interacting with a drop-down menu of agraphical user interface.

Operation 314 may further include, for example, accepting input, via thedigital video camera 102 and/or the digital video camera 106 and/or thedigital still camera 108 and/or the sensor 114 and/or the sensor 116and/or the processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 and/or thedevice 138 and/or the device 140, where the input may be initiated by auser 104, 110, 118, 130, 132, 134, and/or 136 speaking and/or generatingsome sonic signal such as a click or a whistle into an interface devicesuch as a microphone, or where the input may be initiated by anautomated operation of the processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128playing back a recording of such a sonic signal.

Operation 314 may also include, for example, accepting input, via thedigital video camera 102 and/or the digital video camera 106 and/or thedigital still camera 108 and/or the sensor 114 and/or the sensor 116and/or the processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 and/or thedevice 138 and/or the device 140, where the input may be initiated by auser 104, 110, 118, 130, 132, 134, and/or 136 interacting with a videoinput device such as a camera and/or a light/infrared sensor and/or avisual component of a graphical user interface, or where the input maybe initiated by an automated operation of the processor 126 and/or theprocessing logic 128 playing back a recording of a visual signal or ofan interaction with a graphical user interface. It should be understoodthat visual input is not limited to the visual spectrum of a human, butalso may include virtually any portion of the electromagnetic spectrumthat a machine and/or an apparatus is capable of detecting. It shouldalso be understood that examples of visual input may include but are notlimited to gestural input, e.g., a hand sign, detection of capturedelectromagnetic spectrum data indicative of a motion of a capturingdevice (e.g., such as might be detected if a camera were moved in apredefined way). It should also be understood that a sign may includebut is not limited to a static sign (e.g., holding up a victory signwith two fingers and/or holding up a printed sign that says “now”),and/or a dynamic sign (e.g., something like clapping or waving).

FIG. 4 illustrates a high-level logic flowchart of an operation process.The illustrated process may include the following operations: 200(described elsewhere herein), 202 (described elsewhere herein), 400,402, and/or 404.

Operation 400 illustrates retaining the video/audio aspect of thevideo/audio data stream at the first resolution. Operation 400 mayinclude, for example, retaining a video/audio aspect of a video/audiodata stream, where the video/audio aspect is designated by an input andsuch retention is in response to an input to retain the video/audioaspect, at a relatively high resolution in one or more memory locationsassociated with and/or operably coupled to the digital video camera 102and/or the digital video camera 106 and/or the digital still camera 108and/or the sensor 114 and/or the sensor 116 and/or the processor 126and/or the processing logic 128 and/or the device 138 and/or the device140.

Operation 402 shows accepting input for degrading a residue of thevideo/audio data stream to a second resolution, wherein the residue isexcluded from the video/audio aspect, and wherein the second resolutionis less than the first resolution, if a condition is met. Operation 402may include, for example, accepting input, via the digital video camera102 and/or the digital video camera 106 and/or the digital still camera108 and/or the sensor 114 and/or the sensor 116 and/or the processor 126and/or the processing logic 128 and/or the device 138 and/or the device140, for degrading a residue of the video/audio data stream that is notincluded in a video/audio aspect designated for retention at arelatively high resolution, via, e.g., data redaction and/or datacompression, to one or more relatively low resolutions, such asvideo/audio data included in a temporal segment of the video/audio datastream that is not designated for retention at high resolution and/ortemporal segments that are not designated for retention at highresolution. Such a lower resolution may include a resolution of zero(e.g., deletion or non-storage of the residue). Such an input may beinitiated by an action by a user 104, 110, 118, 130, 132, 134, and/or136, e.g., pressing a mouse button and/or speaking into a microphone, orthe input may be initiated by operation of somehardware/software/firmware, e.g., processing software such as theprocessor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 and/or devices 138, 140,or it may be initiated by some combination of human and automatedaction.

Operation 404 depicts degrading the residue of the video/audio datastream to the second resolution, if the condition is met. Operation 404may include, for example, degrading a residue of a video/audio datastream relative to retention of another portion of the video/audio datastream designated for retention at a relatively high resolution, via aprocessor 126 and/or a processing logic 128 and/or a digital videocamera 102 and/or a digital video camera 106 and/or a sensor 114 and/ora sensor 116 and/or a device 138 and/or device 140, to a low resolution,such as 12 kB/second compared to 96 kB/second. Such a degrading may beperformed via hardware/software/firmware constituting computationalresources and via one or more memory locations, where the computationalresources and memory locations are associated with and/or operablycoupled to the digital video camera 102 and/or the digital video camera106 and/or the digital still camera 108 and/or the sensor 114 and/or thesensor 116 and/or the processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128and/or the device 138 and/or the device 140.

FIG. 5 depicts several alternative implementations of the high-levelflowchart of FIG. 4. Operation 402—accepting input for degrading aresidue of the video/audio data stream to a second resolution, whereinthe residue is excluded from the video/audio aspect, and wherein thesecond resolution is less than the first resolution, if a condition ismet—may include the following operations: 500, 502, 504, 506, 508, 510,512, 514, 516, and/or 518.

Operation 500 shows accepting input for degrading the residue to thesecond resolution, wherein the second resolution is determined as afunction of a distance in the video/audio data stream between at least apart of the video/audio aspect and at least a part of the residue.Operation 500 may include, for example, accepting input, via the digitalvideo camera 102 and/or the digital video camera 106 and/or the digitalstill camera 108 and/or the sensor 114 and/or the sensor 116 and/or theprocessor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 and/or the device 138and/or the device 140, for degrading, via, e.g., data redaction and/ordata compression, a residue of a video/audio data stream according tothe distance between a part of the residue to be degraded and a part ofa video/audio aspect designated for retention at high resolution, e.g.,degradation to 75% of the video/audio data available in a residue frombetween 0 and 30 seconds before the video/audio aspect designated forretention at high resolution, degradation to 50% of the video/audio dataavailable in a residue from between 30 and 60 seconds before thevideo/audio aspect designated for retention at high resolution, anddegradation to 25% of the video/audio aspect available in a residue frombetween 60 and 90 seconds before the video/audio aspect designated forretention at high resolution. Such an input may be initiated by anaction by a user 104, 110, 118, 130, 132, 134, and/or 136, e.g.,pressing a mouse button and/or speaking into a microphone, or the inputmay be initiated by operation of some hardware/software/firmware, e.g.,processing software such as the processor 126 and/or the processinglogic 128 and/or devices 138, 140, or it may be initiated by somecombination of human and automated action.

Operation 502 illustrates accepting input for degrading the residue tothe second resolution, wherein the degrading is to be performed if apreselected time has elapsed after a specified previous degrading of theresidue. Operation 502 for example, may include, accepting input, viathe digital video camera 102 and/or the digital video camera 106 and/orthe digital still camera 108 and/or the sensor 114 and/or the sensor 116and/or the processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 and/or thedevice 138 and/or the device 140, for degrading a residue of avideo/audio data stream to a relatively low resolution one week afterthat residue was stored for the first time by a particular user, e.g.,user 104. Such an input may be initiated by an action by a user 104,110, 118, 130, 132, 134, and/or 136, e.g., pressing a mouse buttonand/or speaking into a microphone, or the input may be initiated byoperation of some hardware/software/firmware, e.g., processing softwaresuch as the processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 and/or devices138, 140, or it may be initiated by some combination of human andautomated action.

Operation 504 depicts accepting input for degrading the residue to thesecond resolution, wherein the degrading is to be performed if a timevalue is framed by a preselected time window. Operation 504, forexample, may include accepting input, via the digital video camera 102and/or the digital video camera 106 and/or the digital still camera 108and/or the sensor 114 and/or the sensor 116 and/or the processor 126and/or the processing logic 128 and/or the device 138 and/or the device140, for degrading a residue of a video/audio data stream to arelatively low resolution when the time between an initial review of theportion by a user, e.g. user 110, and the present time is framed by,e.g., included within, a preselected time window of one month to sixmonths prior to the present time. Such an input may be initiated by anaction by a user 104, 110, 118, 130, 132, 134, and/or 136, e.g.,pressing a mouse button and/or speaking into a microphone, or the inputmay be initiated by operation of some hardware/software/firmware, e.g.,processing software such as the processor 126 and/or the processinglogic 128 and/or devices 138, 140, or it may be initiated by somecombination of human and automated action.

Operation 506 shows accepting input for degrading the residue to thesecond resolution, wherein the degrading is to be performed if at leastone of an available storage space is less than a preselected amount, acondition established by a user is met, and/or a criterion correspondingto a storage management algorithm is met. Operation 506 may include, forexample, accepting input, via the digital video camera 102 and/or thedigital video camera 106 and/or the digital still camera 108 and/or thesensor 114 and/or the sensor 116 and/or the processor 126 and/or theprocessing logic 128 and/or the device 138 and/or the device 140, fordegrading a residue of a video/audio data stream to a relatively lowresolution, if one or more available storage spaces provide less than apreselected amount of storage space, e.g., less than 50 MB, such thatmore storage space is made available for a designated video/audio aspectof a video/audio data stream to be retained at a relatively highresolution; and/or a condition established by user 104, such as thepassage of one month from a previous access of a video/audio aspectand/or a residue; and/or a storage management algorithm criterion, suchas no increase in a combined available storage space of across fivestorage devices in a month, are met. Such an input may be initiated byan action by a user 104, 110, 118, 130, 132, 134, and/or 136, e.g.,pressing a mouse button and/or speaking into a microphone, or the inputmay be initiated by operation of some hardware/software/firmware, e.g.,processing software such as the processor 126 and/or the processinglogic 128 and/or devices 138, 140, or it may be initiated by somecombination of human and automated action.

Operation 508 illustrates accepting input for degrading the residue tothe second resolution if a condition responsive to an examination of atleast one other retained set of video/audio data is met. Operation 508,for example, may include accepting input, via the digital video camera102 and/or the digital video camera 106 and/or the digital still camera108 and/or the sensor 114 and/or the sensor 116 and/or the processor 126and/or the processing logic 128 and/or the device 138 and/or the device140, for degrading a residue of a video/audio data stream to arelatively low resolution if, upon examination, it is found that anotherretained set of video/audio data contains information that decreases theusefulness of a high-resolution retention of the residue underconsideration for retention at low resolution, such as a finding that afirst surveillance record of a location does not include any video/audiorecord of a particular person in a second surveillance record thatincludes that person, so that there is no interest in retaining thesecond surveillance record at high resolution, indicating that thesecond record, the residue under consideration, may be retained at arelatively low resolution. Such an input may be initiated by an actionby a user 104, 110, 118, 130, 132, 134, and/or 136, e.g., pressing amouse button and/or speaking into a microphone, or the input may beinitiated by operation of some hardware/software/firmware, e.g.,processing software such as the processor 126 and/or the processinglogic 128 and/or devices 138, 140, or it may be initiated by somecombination of human and automated action.

Operation 510 shows accepting input for degrading the residue to thesecond resolution, wherein the degrading is to be performed if thecondition is met, wherein the condition is related to one or more of aset of events and/or conditions excluding a specified previous degradingof the residue. Operation 510, for example, may include accepting input,via the digital video camera 102 and/or the digital video camera 106and/or the digital still camera 108 and/or the sensor 114 and/or thesensor 116 and/or the processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128and/or the device 138 and/or the device 140, for degrading to arelatively low resolution a residue of a video/audio data stream if thatresidue is being considered for such a degrading immediately after beingreceived from and/or recorded by a sensor, e.g., digital still camera108. Such an input may be initiated by an action by a user 104, 110,118, 130, 132, 134, and/or 136, e.g., pressing a mouse button and/orspeaking into a microphone, or the input may be initiated by operationof some hardware/software/firmware, e.g., processing software such asthe processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 and/or devices 138,140, or it may be initiated by some combination of human and automatedaction.

Operation 512 depicts accepting input for degrading the residue to thesecond resolution, wherein the degrading is to be performed if acondition responsive to data received from a device other than a deviceused for a specified previous degrading of the residue is met. Operation512 may include, for example, accepting input, via the digital videocamera 102 and/or the digital video camera 106 and/or the digital stillcamera 108 and/or the sensor 114 and/or the sensor 116 and/or theprocessor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 and/or the device 138and/or the device 140, for degrading residue of a video/audio datastream to a relatively low resolution if a storage medium device thatwas not used for a specified previous retention of the residue providesan indication that it has less than a particular amount of availablestorage capacity. Such an input may be initiated by an action by a user104, 110, 118, 130, 132, 134, and/or 136, e.g., pressing a mouse buttonand/or speaking into a microphone, or the input may be initiated byoperation of some hardware/software/firmware, e.g., processing softwaresuch as the processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 and/or devices138, 140, or it may be initiated by some combination of human andautomated action.

Operation 514 illustrates accepting input for degrading the residue tothe second resolution, wherein the degrading is to be performed if acondition responsive to data received from a device other than a deviceto be used for the degrading is met. Operation 514 may include, forexample, accepting input, via the digital video camera 102 and/or thedigital video camera 106 and/or the digital still camera 108 and/or thesensor 114 and/or the sensor 116 and/or the processor 126 and/or theprocessing logic 128 and/or the device 138 and/or the device 140, fordegrading a residue of a video/audio data stream to a relatively lowresolution if a storage medium that is not to be used for retention ofthe residue at the low resolution provides an indication thatinformation stored on it does not specify a requirement that the residuebe retained at a high resolution, such as an indication from a storagemedium not to be used for retention of the residue at a low resolutionthat a particular vehicle is of interest to a user, e.g., user 118, whenvideo/audio data regarding that vehicle is not included in the residue.Such an input may be initiated by an action by a user 104, 110, 118,130, 132, 134, and/or 136, e.g., pressing a mouse button and/or speakinginto a microphone, or the input may be initiated by operation of somehardware/software/firmware, e.g., processing software such as theprocessor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 and/or devices 138, 140,or it may be initiated by some combination of human and automatedaction.

Operation 516 shows accepting input for degrading the residue to thesecond resolution, wherein the method includes a method implemented in afirst device, and wherein the degrading is to be performed if acondition responsive to data received from a second device is met.Operation 516 may include, for example, accepting input, via the digitalvideo camera 102 and/or the digital video camera 106 and/or the digitalstill camera 108 and/or the sensor 114 and/or the sensor 116 and/or theprocessor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 and/or the device 138and/or the device 140, for degrading a residue of a video/audio datastream to a relatively low resolution, where the method related to datamanagement is implemented in the processor 126 and/or the processinglogic 128, if the processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 receivefrom a back-up storage unit an indication that the storage capacityavailable in the back-up storage unit is less than a specified capacity.Such an input may be initiated by an action by a user 104, 110, 118,130, 132, 134, and/or 136, e.g., pressing a mouse button and/or speakinginto a microphone, or the input may be initiated by operation of somehardware/software/firmware, e.g., processing software such as theprocessor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 and/or devices 138, 140,or it may be initiated by some combination of human and automatedaction.

Operation 518 shows accepting an input for a designation of a secondresolution value. Operation 518 may include, for example, acceptinginput, via the digital video camera 102 and/or the digital video camera106 and/or the digital still camera 108 and/or the sensor 114 and/or thesensor 116 and/or the processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128and/or the device 138 and/or the device 140, from a user 104, 110, 118,130, 132, 134, and/or 136 for designation of a particular resolutionvalue to which to degrade a residue of a video/audio data stream, suchas 6 kB/second. Such an input may be initiated by an action by a user104, 110, 118, 130, 132, 134, and/or 136, e.g., pressing a mouse buttonand/or speaking into a microphone, or the input may be initiated byoperation of some hardware/software/firmware, e.g., processing softwaresuch as the processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 and/or devices138, 140, or it may be initiated by some combination of human andautomated action.

FIG. 6 depicts several alternative implementations of the high-levelflowchart of FIG. 4. Operation 404—degrading the residue of thevideo/audio data stream to the second resolution, if the condition ismet—may include the following operations: 600 and/or 602.

Operation 600 depicts degrading the residue to the second resolutionusing a compression algorithm. Operation 600 may include, for example,degrading, via a processor 126 and/or a processing logic 128 and/or adigital video camera 102 and/or a digital video camera 106 and/or asensor 114 and/or a sensor 116 and/or a device 138 and/or device 140, aresidue of a video/audio data stream to a low resolution relative toretention of a video/audio aspect at a high resolution, such as 12kB/second compared to 96 kB/second, where the low resolution is obtainedusing a compression algorithm, e.g., a lossy compression algorithm, onthe residue. In this example, the compression algorithm may be storedand/or run using the processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128and/or the digital video camera 102 and/or the digital video camera 106and/or the digital still camera 108 and/or the sensor 114 and/or thesensor 116 and/or the device 138 and/or device 140 and/or somecomputational unit operably coupled to one or more of those devices.

Operation 602 illustrates degrading the residue to the second resolutionusing data redaction. Operation 602 may include, for example, degrading,via a processor 126 and/or a processing logic 128 and/or a digital videocamera 102 and/or a digital video camera 106 and/or a sensor 114 and/ora sensor 116 and/or a device 138 and/or device 140, a residue of avideo/audio aspect to a low resolution relative to retention of avideo/audio aspect of the video/audio data stream, such as 12 kB/secondcompared to 96 kB/second, where the low resolution is obtained usingdata redaction on the residue, by redacting data representing, e.g., thehigher and lower frequencies of audio data in such a residue, and/or theextraneous parts of video data in such a residue, aside from video dataof interest in the residue. In this example, a program for dataredaction may be stored and/or run using the processor 126 and/or theprocessing logic 128 and/or the digital video camera 102 and/or thedigital video camera 106 and/or the digital still camera 108 and/or thesensor 114 and/or the sensor 116 and/or the device 138 and/or device 140and/or some computational unit operably coupled to one or more of thosedevices.

Those having skill in the art will recognize that the state of the arthas progressed to the point where there is little distinction leftbetween hardware and software implementations of aspects of systems; theuse of hardware or software is generally (but not always, in that incertain contexts the choice between hardware and software can becomesignificant) a design choice representing cost vs. efficiency tradeoffs.Those having skill in the art will appreciate that there are variousvehicles by which processes and/or systems and/or other technologiesdescribed herein can be effected (e.g., hardware, software, and/orfirmware), and that the preferred vehicle will vary with the context inwhich the processes and/or systems and/or other technologies aredeployed. For example, if an implementer determines that speed andaccuracy are paramount, the implementer may opt for a mainly hardwareand/or firmware vehicle; alternatively, if flexibility is paramount, theimplementer may opt for a mainly software implementation; or, yet againalternatively, the implementer may opt for some combination of hardware,software, and/or firmware. Hence, there are several possible vehicles bywhich the processes and/or devices and/or other technologies describedherein may be effected, none of which is inherently superior to theother in that any vehicle to be utilized is a choice dependent upon thecontext in which the vehicle will be deployed and the specific concerns(e.g., speed, flexibility, or predictability) of the implementer, any ofwhich may vary. Those skilled in the art will recognize that opticalaspects of implementations will typically employ optically-orientedhardware, software, and or firmware.

The foregoing detailed description has set forth various embodiments ofthe devices and/or processes via the use of block diagrams, flowcharts,and/or examples. Insofar as such block diagrams, flowcharts, and/orexamples contain one or more functions and/or operations, it will beunderstood by those within the art that each function and/or operationwithin such block diagrams, flowcharts, or examples can be implemented,individually and/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software,firmware, or virtually any combination thereof. In one embodiment,several portions of the subject matter described herein may beimplemented via Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), FieldProgrammable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), digital signal processors (DSPs), orother integrated formats. However, those skilled in the art willrecognize that some aspects of the embodiments disclosed herein, inwhole or in part, can be equivalently implemented in integratedcircuits, as one or more computer programs running on one or morecomputers (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more computersystems), as one or more programs running on one or more processors(e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more microprocessors),as firmware, or as virtually any combination thereof, and that designingthe circuitry and/or writing the code for the software and or firmwarewould be well within the skill of one of skill in the art in light ofthis disclosure. In addition, those skilled in the art will appreciatethat the mechanisms of the subject matter described herein are capableof being distributed as a program product in a variety of forms, andthat an illustrative embodiment of the subject matter described hereinapplies equally regardless of the particular type of signal bearingmedia used to actually carry out the distribution. Examples of a signalbearing medium include, but are not limited to, the following: arecordable type medium such as a floppy disk, a hard disk drive, aCompact Disc (CD), a Digital Video Disk (DVD), a digital tape, acomputer memory, etc.; and a transmission type medium such as a digitaland/or an analog communication medium (e.g., a fiber optic cable, awaveguide, a wired communications link, a wireless communication link,etc.).

In a general sense, those skilled in the art will recognize that thevarious aspects described herein which can be implemented, individuallyand/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software, firmware, orany combination thereof can be viewed as being composed of various typesof “electrical circuitry.” Consequently, as used herein “electricalcircuitry” includes, but is not limited to, electrical circuitry havingat least one discrete electrical circuit, electrical circuitry having atleast one integrated circuit, electrical circuitry having at least oneapplication specific integrated circuit, electrical circuitry forming ageneral purpose computing device configured by a computer program (e.g.,a general purpose computer configured by a computer program which atleast partially carries out processes and/or devices described herein,or a microprocessor configured by a computer program which at leastpartially carries out processes and/or devices described herein),electrical circuitry forming a memory device (e.g., forms of randomaccess memory), and/or electrical circuitry forming a communicationsdevice (e.g., a modem, communications switch, or optical-electricalequipment). Those having skill in the art will recognize that thesubject matter described herein may be implemented in an analog ordigital fashion or some combination thereof.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that it is common within the artto describe devices and/or processes in the fashion set forth herein,and thereafter use engineering practices to integrate such describeddevices and/or processes into image processing systems. That is, atleast a portion of the devices and/or processes described herein can beintegrated into an image processing system via a reasonable amount ofexperimentation. Those having skill in the art will recognize that atypical image processing system generally includes one or more of asystem unit housing, a video display device, a memory such as volatileand non-volatile memory, processors such as microprocessors and digitalsignal processors, computational entities such as operating systems,drivers, and applications programs, one or more interaction devices,such as a touch pad or screen, control systems including feedback loopsand control motors (e.g., feedback for sensing lens position and/orvelocity; control motors for moving/distorting lenses to give desiredfocuses. A typical image processing system may be implemented utilizingany suitable commercially available components, such as those typicallyfound in digital still systems and/or digital motion systems.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that it is common within the artto describe devices and/or processes in the fashion set forth herein,and thereafter use engineering practices to integrate such describeddevices and/or processes into data processing systems. That is, at leasta portion of the devices and/or processes described herein can beintegrated into a data processing system via a reasonable amount ofexperimentation. Those having skill in the art will recognize that atypical data processing system generally includes one or more of asystem unit housing, a video display device, a memory such as volatileand non-volatile memory, processors such as microprocessors and digitalsignal processors, computational entities such as operating systems,drivers, graphical user interfaces, and applications programs, one ormore interaction devices, such as a touch pad or screen, and/or controlsystems including feedback loops and control motors (e.g., feedback forsensing position and/or velocity; control motors for moving and/oradjusting components and/or quantities). A typical data processingsystem may be implemented utilizing any suitable commercially availablecomponents, such as those typically found in datacomputing/communication and/or network computing/communication systems.

All of the above U.S. patents, U.S. patent application publications,U.S. patent applications, foreign patents, foreign patent applicationsand non-patent publications referred to in this specification and/orlisted in any Application Data Sheet, are incorporated herein byreference, in their entireties.

The herein described subject matter sometimes illustrates differentcomponents contained within, or connected with, different othercomponents. It is to be understood that such depicted architectures aremerely exemplary, and that in fact many other architectures can beimplemented which achieve the same functionality. In a conceptual sense,any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality iseffectively “associated” such that the desired functionality isachieved. Hence, any two components herein combined to achieve aparticular functionality can be seen as “associated with” each othersuch that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective ofarchitectures or intermedial components. Likewise, any two components soassociated can also be viewed as being “operably connected”, or“operably coupled”, to each other to achieve the desired functionality,and any two components capable of being so associated can also be viewedas being “operably couplable”, to each other to achieve the desiredfunctionality. Specific examples of operably couplable include but arenot limited to physically mateable and/or physically interactingcomponents and/or wirelessly interactable and/or wirelessly interactingcomponents and/or logically interacting and/or logically interactablecomponents.

While particular aspects of the present subject matter described hereinhave been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled inthe art that, based upon the teachings herein, changes and modificationsmay be made without departing from the subject matter described hereinand its broader aspects and, therefore, the appended claims are toencompass within their scope all such changes and modifications as arewithin the true spirit and scope of this subject matter describedherein. Furthermore, it is to be understood that the invention isdefined by the appended claims. It will be understood by those withinthe art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in theappended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generallyintended as “open” terms (e.g., the term “including” should beinterpreted as “including but not limited to,” the term “having” shouldbe interpreted as “having at least,” the term “includes” should beinterpreted as “includes but is not limited to,” etc.). It will befurther understood by those within the art that if a specific number ofan introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will beexplicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitationno such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, thefollowing appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases“at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claim recitations.However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply thatthe introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles “a” or“an” limits any particular claim containing such introduced claimrecitation to inventions containing only one such recitation, even whenthe same claim includes the introductory phrases “one or more” or “atleast one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an” (e.g., “a” and/or“an” should typically be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one ormore”); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used tointroduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number ofan introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled inthe art will recognize that such recitation should typically beinterpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the barerecitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, typicallymeans at least two recitations, or two or more recitations).Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to “atleast one of A, B, and C, etc.” is used, in general such a constructionis intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understandthe convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, and C”would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone,C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A,B, and C together, etc.). In those instances where a conventionanalogous to “at least one of A, B, or C, etc.” is used, in general sucha construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the artwould understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one ofA, B, or C” would include but not be limited to systems that have Aalone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and Ctogether, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.).

While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, otheraspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art.The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purposes ofillustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scopeand spirit being indicated by the following claims.

We claim:
 1. A method related to data management, the method comprising:accepting an input for designating a first portion of data in a videoand/or audio data stream obtained from at least one sensing device, thedesignated first portion of data in the video and/or audio data streamincluding at least data representing at least one of a distinct humanvoice, a distinct sound, or an image of a distinct object; accepting asecond input for retaining the designated first portion of data in thevideo and/or audio data stream at a first resolution; and accepting athird input for designation of at least one reduced resolution value fordegrading one or more portions of a residue of the video and/or audiodata stream to one or more reduced resolutions less than the firstresolution, if a condition is met, wherein the one or more reducedresolutions are determined as a function of the at least one reducedresolution value and distance in the video and/or audio data streambetween the designated first portion to be retained at the firstresolution and the one or more portions of the residue, and wherein thefunction of distance instructs for at least one greater reduction of theone or more reduced resolutions as the distance increases between thedesignated first portion to be retained at the first resolution and theone or more portions of the residue.
 2. The method of claim 1, whereinthe accepting an input for designating a first portion of data in avideo and/or audio data stream further comprises: accepting the inputfor designating a portion of audio and/or video data included in atemporal segment of the video and/or audio data stream, the temporalsegment being designated for retention in non-volatile memory.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the accepting an input for designating afirst portion of data in a video and/or audio data stream furthercomprises: accepting an input for designating a portion of audio and/orvideo data included in a plurality of non-contiguous temporal segmentsof the video and/or audio data stream, the non-contiguous temporalsegments being designated for retention in non-volatile memory.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the accepting an input for designating afirst portion of data in a video and/or audio data stream furthercomprises: accepting an input for designating the first portion of datain the video and/or audio data stream, wherein the video and/or audiodata stream is a live and/or a substantially live video and/or audiodata stream.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the accepting an inputfor designating a first portion of data in a video and/or audio datastream further comprises: accepting an input for designating the firstportion of data in the video and/or audio data stream, wherein the videoand/or audio data stream is a retained video and/or audio data stream.6. The method of claim 1, wherein the accepting an input for designatinga first portion of data in a video and/or audio data stream furthercomprises: accepting input for designating a first resolution value. 7.The method of claim 1, wherein the accepting an input for designating afirst portion of data in a video and/or audio data stream furthercomprises: accepting a tactile input and/or a sonic input and/or avisual input.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: retainingthe first portion of data in the video and/or audio data stream at thefirst resolution.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the accepting athird input for degrading one or more portions of a residue of the videoand/or audio data stream to one or more reduced resolutions less thanthe first resolution, if a condition is met, further comprises:accepting input for degrading the one or more portions of the residue tothe one or more reduced resolutions, wherein the degrading is to beperformed if a preselected time has elapsed after a specified previousdegrading of the residue.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein theaccepting a third input for degrading one or more portions of a residueof the video and/or audio data stream to one or more reduced resolutionsless than the first resolution, if a condition is met, furthercomprises: accepting input for degrading the one or more portions of theresidue to the one or more reduced resolutions, wherein the degrading isto be performed if a time value is framed by a preselected time window.11. The method of claim 1, wherein the accepting a third input fordegrading one or more portions of a residue of the video and/or audiodata stream to one or more reduced resolutions less than the firstresolution, if a condition is met, further comprises: accepting inputfor degrading the one or more portions of the residue to the one or morereduced resolutions, wherein the degrading is to be performed if atleast one of an available storage space is less than a preselectedamount, a condition established by a user is met, and/or a criterioncorresponding to a storage management algorithm is met.
 12. The methodof claim 1, wherein the accepting a third input for degrading one ormore portions of a residue of the video and/or audio data stream to oneor more reduced resolutions less than the first resolution, if acondition is met, further comprises: accepting input for degrading theone or more portions of the residue to the one or more reducedresolutions if a condition responsive to an examination of at least oneother retained set of video/audio data is met.
 13. The method of claim1, wherein the accepting a third input for degrading one or moreportions of a residue of the video and/or audio data stream to one ormore reduced resolutions less than the first resolution, if a conditionis met, further comprises: accepting input for degrading the one or moreportions of the residue to the one or more reduced resolutions, whereinthe degrading is to be performed if the condition is met, wherein thecondition is related to one or more of a set of events and/or conditionsexcluding a specified previous degrading of the residue.
 14. The methodof claim 1, wherein the accepting a third input for degrading one ormore portions of a residue of the video and/or audio data stream to oneor more reduced resolutions less than the first resolution, if acondition is met, further comprises: accepting input for degrading theone or more portions of the residue to the one or more reducedresolutions, wherein the degrading is to be performed if a conditionresponsive to data received from a device other than a device used for aspecified previous degrading of the residue is met.
 15. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the accepting a third input for degrading one or moreportions of a residue of the video and/or audio data stream to one ormore reduced resolutions less than the first resolution, if a conditionis met, further comprises: accepting input for degrading the one or moreportions of the residue to the one or more reduced resolutions, whereinthe degrading is to be performed if a condition responsive to datareceived from a device other than a device to be used for the degradingis met.
 16. The method of claim 1, wherein the accepting a third inputfor degrading one or more portions of a residue of the video and/oraudio data stream to one or more reduced resolutions less than the firstresolution, if a condition is met, further comprises: accepting inputfor degrading the one or more portions of the residue to the one or morereduced resolutions, wherein the method includes a method implemented ina first device, and wherein the degrading is to be performed if acondition responsive to data received from a second device is met. 17.The method of claim 1, further comprising: degrading the one or moreportions of the residue of the video and/or audio data stream to the oneor more reduced resolutions, if the condition is met.
 18. The method ofclaim 17, wherein the degrading the one or more portions of the residueof the video and/or audio data stream to the one or more reducedresolutions, if the condition is met further comprises: degrading theone or more portions of the residue to the one or more reducedresolutions using a compression algorithm.
 19. The method of claim 17,wherein the degrading the one or more portions of the residue of thevideo and/or audio data stream to the one or more reduced resolutions,if the condition is met further comprises: degrading the one or moreportions of the residue to the one or more reduced resolutions usingdata redaction.
 20. A computer program product related to datamanagement, the computer program product comprising a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium including: one or more instructions foraccepting an input for designating a first portion of data in a videoand/or audio data stream, the designated first portion of data in thevideo and/or audio data stream including data representing at least oneof a distinct human voice, a distinct sound, or an image of a distinctobject; one or more instructions for accepting a second input forretaining the designated first portion of data in the video and/or audiodata stream at a first resolution; and one or more instructions foraccepting a third input for designation of at least one reducedresolution value for degrading one or more portions of a residue of thevideo and/or audio data stream to one or more reduced resolutions lessthan the first resolution, if a condition is met, wherein the one ormore reduced resolutions are determined as a function of the at leastone reduced resolution value and distance in the video and/or audio datastream between the designated first portion to be retained at the firstresolution and the one or more portions of the residue, and wherein thefunction of distance instructs for at least one greater reduction of theone or more reduced resolutions as the distance increases between thedesignated first portion to be retained at the first resolution and theone or more portions of the residue.
 21. The computer program product ofclaim 20, further comprising: at least one of transmitting or receiving:one or more instructions for retaining the designated first portion ofdata in the video and/or audio data stream at the first resolution. 22.The computer program product of claim 20, further comprising: at leastone of transmitting or receiving: one or more instructions for degradinga residue of the video and/or audio data stream to a reduced resolution,if a condition is met.